Arnold Interested In Socceroos Job

Former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold would be willing to have another crack at the job to take Australia to the World Cup finals in Brazil next year -- but only on his terms.

Former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold would be willing to have another crack at the job to take Australia to the World Cup finals in Brazil next year -- but only on his terms.

The Central Coast Mariners coach was in charge of the national side on an interim basis in 2006-07 and has been tipped, along with Western Sydney's Tony Popovic and Melbourne victory's Ange Postecoglou, as a candidate to replace Holgier Osieck.

Osieck was summarily dismissed last weeked following the Socceroos' second successive 6-0 defeat in friendlies, which prompted a wave of soul-searching in the local media.

"It would be an honour to coach my country ... but there's a lot of thinking to do on my side of it as well," Arnold told reporters after his side's A-League match with Melbourne Heart.

"You've got to think about it from the coach's side of it as well because, no one has asked us to ... we didn't apply for the job and it's just been put out there that we are candidates for the job.

"So we also, whether it's myself or Tony or Ange, we also have a say in what the job is about, and if we do want the job.

"So at this point in time, thats the thing that is all up in the air."

Arnold replaced Dutchman Guus Hiddink after the 2006 World Cup finals on an interim basis and took the Socceroos to the 2007 Asian Cup finals, but was forced to shoulder much of the blame for a poor campaign.

"I had a period of six or seven months as an interim coach and it was murder, because it's so hard if you can't do things the way you want to do it," he added.

"You'd have to be honoured, and I'm honoured to be a candidate for the national team, but there's a lot of water to go under the bridge."

On Friday, Postecoglou used a strongly-worded newspaper column that will be seen as a manifesto for turning the national team around before next year's finals in Brazil as a vehicle to express his interest in the job.

The 48-year-old, who is considered the favourite for the job, also told local media on Saturday that he expected to meet Football Federation Australia officials to discuss the position.